Illumination
by Accio Abarero
Summary: Several years PostDH. Ron will do anything to make it a perfect night. RonHermione


Author's Note: This is just a oneshot I wrote recently when the power was out at my own house and I decided to use it as inspiration. Nothing like old-fashioned writing by lantern light. I hope you all enjoy and comments are much appreciated.

**NOTE**: The London Eye (aka. the Millennium Wheel) is an observation wheel in London. At night, it lights up with various colors.

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**Illumination**

It was dark, pitch black as a matter of fact, and Ron secretly wondered if some higher power out there was trying to make his first anniversary with Hermione into a mess. Glancing up at the heavens, he muttered, "Fred, if this is your idea of a bloody joke, I'm not laughing."

When the lights didn't flick back on, Ron cursed and picked up his wand.

"_Lumos_."

The wand tip lit up with a glowing blue light, which Ron used to light his way down the stairs. Shining his wand towards the dining room, he could see that everything was still set up perfectly. The table was filled with covered dishes and plates of food, all of them one of Hermione's favorites. Ron sighed on seeing a few burnt edges here and there, knowing those were the ones he'd helped with.

The other dishes looked like works of art all their own, almost too good looking to eat. This was thanks to their household's very well-paid house-elf, who happened to be quite the culinary genius. Ron shook his head as he thought about how he'd paid the elf extra to help him set up the surprise dinner then let her have the night off with double the pay. Oh yes, Hermione had rubbed off on him, that was for certain.

Peering out the front window, he noticed that the entire muggle neighborhood was dark and Ron had a sinking feeling that this was the work of something other than magic. Recalling a previous time when the lights of their home had gone out, Ron remembered Hermione saying the electricity must have "blown a fuse." He wasn't quite clear on the details of it, but Ron figured that electricity had just as much a right to get angry and blow a fuse as anyone else did.

"I suppose the whole town blew a fuse," he muttered to himself as he shut the blinds.

Shining his wand tip towards the muggle clock Hermione had on the wall, Ron knew it was nearing the time when she'd come home from work. Worried that the electricity could stay angered for longer than he had, he decided to take the lighting situation into his own hands.

Ron raced back upstairs, shining his wand about until the light hit upon a familiar silver object. He hastily pocketed it and with a _pop_ he was gone.

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Hermione had gotten quite accustomed to apparating right onto the doorstep of her home. Thinking back on how she'd mastered it, years before at Grimmauld Place with Death Eaters outside, she was thankful now that it was a matter of convenience rather than life or death. As she pushed the door open, all she could think about is how she wished Ron wasn't off with Harry on a very serious Auror mission. She knew it was of great importance that they helped keep the peace in the Wizarding world, but today she really wished she could have her husband all to herself. About to resign herself to a good book and Ron coming home very late if at all, Hermione started on seeing the strange orbs of light floating in the hallway.

"Ron?" She called out warily.

Setting down her briefcase and hanging her cloak on the stand, she slowly made her way down the hall. As she passed the front room, Hermione noticed that outside was far too dark for it to just be nighttime. The streetlights were out, along with all the lights in the nearby houses.

"Power must be out," she reasoned, passing by an orange orb that was followed by a blue one.

"Ron, I know you're here. Because unless someone else developed a deluminator or Hogwarts: A History lied about Dumbledore owning the only one like it, you're the only one that can do this."

A familiar laugh echoed from the dining room at that, "Leave it to you to bring up that bloody book at a time like this."

Following his voice, and the floating row of multicolored orbs, Hermione retorted.

"I thought you were on Auror duty tonight; that you wouldn't be back till possibly tomorrow."

"I lied; I hope you'll forgive me."

"But Harry said…"

"Harry lied for me as well. I wanted to surprise you, but it seems like the town's eckeltricity blew a fuse."

Rounding the corner into the dining room, Hermione gasped as she saw all the tiny orbs illuminating the room. Each orb would be one color at one moment, then after a few moments, some of them switched to another color.

"Ron…it's beautiful."

He smiled as she looked at him.

"Well," he rubbed the back of his head, "We wouldn't want to eat all this in the dark."

She'd been so distracted by the orbs that Hermione had just now noticed the table decked out in its finest and covered in all kinds of her favorites.

"Is all this…"

"Happy anniversary, Hermione."

Darting around the table, she wrapped her arms around Ron tightly as she kissed him full on the mouth. After a moment, he pulled back and smiled.

"So I take it you approve?"

"Although I'm quite certain that your sister, mother and possibly your sister-in-law tipped you off what a polite thing it would be to do, I'm very happy either way."

"Hey, only mum nagged me about it."

"Oh really?" Hermione questioned.

"Okay, so Fleur told me something but…" his ears went pink, "That-that's for later."

Raising an eyebrow, but not about to push the matter and ruin her surprise, Hermione reached down and squeezed Ron's hand.

"Happy Anniversary, Mr. Ron Weasley."

He smiled and pecked a quick kiss on her cheek.

"And Happy Anniversary to you, Mrs. Hermione Weasley."

The two exchanged one more kiss before settling down to their meal, the entire room flickering with colors as the orbs continued their optical show.

The next morning, Hermione couldn't help but laugh to herself at the muggle paper's headline: _London_ _Eye Goes Mysteriously Dark. Electricians Are Baffled As To The Cause._ Of course, the muggles would never believe that the lights had been borrowed by a well-meaning wizard who was just trying to give his wife the best anniversary present in the world.

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THE END


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